Gen Z trades homeownership for debt repayment as costs rise
Faced with high mortgage rates, soaring home prices and heavy personal debt, Gen Z is largely delaying or forgoing homeownership and focusing on paying down loans and balances first.
Faced with high mortgage rates, soaring home prices and heavy personal debt, Gen Z is largely delaying or forgoing homeownership and focusing on paying down loans and balances first.
Eight OPEC+ producers will raise output by 206,000 barrels per day in April after attacks involving the U.S., Israel and Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
A new study in Scientific Reports reports that left-handed people show stronger competitive traits and less competition avoidance than right-handers, offering evidence relevant to evolutionary ideas about why left-handedness persists (Prete et al., 2026).
At least two ships were struck and a third experienced a nearby explosion near the Strait of Hormuz amid Iranian warnings to avoid the waterway, triggering a near standstill in shipping and sharp rises in oil prices.
Brent and WTI jumped after strikes and retaliation between Israel and Iran, prompting analysts to warn that sustained disruption to Gulf supplies could push Brent toward $80 a barrel.
A vehicle owner in China says a voice command meant to turn off interior lights disabled the headlights and caused a crash; Lynk & Co issued an emergency OTA patch and owners of other brands reported similar voice command vulnerabilities.
The UAE announced it has closed its embassy in Tehran and pulled all diplomatic personnel after an Iranian missile strike it says targeted civilian sites and Emirati territory, calling the attacks a breach of international law.
Prime minister Rob Jetten says he presses criminal charges weekly over anti-gay abuse after hundreds of hateful replies and AI-generated attacks appeared on the government X account; he also warned ministers to be more careful on social media.
The U.S. military says B-2 stealth bombers struck Iranian ballistic missile sites with 2,000-pound bombs as U.S.-Israeli attacks that killed Iran's supreme leader set off missile and drone exchanges, multiple casualties, and regional disruptions.
Negotiations collapsed after the Pentagon sought looser limits on Anthropic’s AI use, especially for bulk domestic data and for autonomous weapon systems, prompting a government move to cut ties.
Japan’s transport ministry will limit passengers to two spare batteries including power banks and ban onboard charging and use of power banks starting in mid-April, following a string of battery fires and expected international rule changes.
President Donald Trump claimed on social media that nine Iranian navy vessels were sunk and that Iran's naval headquarters was heavily damaged, but those assertions have not been independently verified.
Layoff tracking from 2024 to 2026 shows widespread cuts across ten fields often seen as safe, revealing that automation, consolidation, budget changes and strategic shifts are changing which jobs feel secure.
A study combining mouse experiments and human data found that monocyte immune cells produce IL-10 to turn off pain-sensing nerves, and that males produce more of this molecule—linked to testosterone—potentially explaining why women often have longer lasting pain.
Kazakhstan is planting tens of thousands of trees along Lake Balkhash to rebuild habitat for a planned Amur tiger reintroduction, pairing large-scale greening with monitoring, community measures and plans to bring wild tigers from Russia.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to a $111 billion merger at $31 a share after Netflix withdrew, backed by large equity and debt financing, regulatory reviews, and company commitments on films and windows.
In an interview, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants a postwar Belarus with free leadership to be able to choose EU membership and for Kyiv and Minsk to rebuild peaceful ties, while Ukraine’s EU accession advances on technical grounds but remains politically blocked by Hungary.
President Trump and his Fed nominee Kevin Warsh say AI-driven productivity can justify looser monetary policy and a 1990s-style boom, but many economists and Fed officials say the comparison is flawed and the evidence is mixed.
Drone strikes linked to Iran hit Dubai and Bahrain, grounding flights and prompting immediate insurance pullback and energy market volatility that risk wider economic disruption.
An Iranian missile hit Beit Shemesh west of Jerusalem on March 1, destroying multiple apartment buildings, killing nine people and injuring dozens as search and rescue and medical teams respond.
U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader set off cross-border missile and drone attacks, widespread casualties across the region, and a rapid effort inside Iran to establish interim leadership.
The Digital Age Assurance Act requires every operating system provider in California to collect age at account setup and transmit one of four age brackets to app developers via a real-time API, covering major platforms and including Linux and SteamOS.
U.S. officials envisioned a short campaign and pushed for an immediate ceasefire, while unverified reports of senior Iranian leadership deaths circulate and Tehran’s regime remains intact amid risks of regional escalation.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the company stood up for its values by rejecting Pentagon demands, citing red lines on surveillance and autonomous weapons while warning it will challenge any formal government sanctions.
FedEx joined other major U.S. companies in asking the courts to refund import taxes after the Supreme Court found President Trump exceeded his emergency powers when he imposed broad tariffs.
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 studies reports inconsistent effects of music on cognitive control and emotional responses during short exercise sessions, with benefits depending on exercise intensity, participant age, and study design.
As GPS jamming incidents rise across Europe and the Black Sea region, quantum sensors that detect magnetic and gravity signals are being developed as an alternative by contractors working with the U.S. government and defense firms.
President Trump and Iranian state media said top Iranian figures including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed in joint US and Israeli strikes early Saturday, while US military officials described wide ranging attacks on IRGC facilities and the first combat use of low cost one way attack drones.
A Neurobiology of Aging study of 225 adults finds that high childhood maltreatment is linked to different midlife brain aging patterns and faster declines in executive function, with subcortical regions appearing especially vulnerable.
CENTCOM says three U.S. service members were killed and five seriously wounded after Iranian retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, following a U.S. and Israeli campaign that targeted Iranian military sites and leadership; this is a developing story.
Speaking in Mumbai, Prime Minister Mark Carney said his visit signals a thaw in relations and that Ottawa is pushing tax and energy incentives to clinch a comprehensive trade deal with India by year end.
State television reported the former president died in strikes blamed on Israel and the US, but independent confirmation and comment from those governments are still pending.
The Soviet focus on heavy industry and defense, combined with low-quality mass production, long queues, and widespread informal trade, created chronic shortages and undermined everyday access to consumer goods.
Eurostat data for 2024 show 4.2 million arrivals from non-EU countries and 1.5 million intra-EU moves, with large differences in immigration rates and origin mixes across member states.
Afghan officials say they used air defenses to thwart an attempted Pakistani strike on Bagram Air Base as cross-border fighting with Pakistan entered a fourth day, with both sides reporting casualties and blaming each other.
A long-term study of nearly 200,000 US adults shows that eating higher quality foods matters more for heart health than simply cutting carbs or fat, with both healthy low-carb and healthy low-fat patterns linked to better biomarkers and lower coronary heart disease risk.
A survey of 720 TikTok users found that fear of missing out predicts everyday cognitive errors through addictive TikTok habits, but the cross-sectional, self-report study cannot prove causation and calls for longitudinal and objective follow-up research.
Meta and Ray-Ban will add Name Tag, a facial recognition feature for their smart glasses, prompting warnings from privacy groups about stealth surveillance, potential law enforcement access to biometric data, and questions about timing disclosed in an internal memo.
Memory prices have exploded in 2025 and 2026 as AI labs and hyperscalers ramp up purchases and chipmakers reallocate production, and disclosed wafer deals by OpenAI raise questions about whether some buyers are hoarding capacity to limit on-device AI and protect cloud-based business models.
Allowing AI chat agents to interrupt and use personality traits raised accuracy on benchmark reasoning tasks, with the biggest gains when multiple agents were initially wrong.
The United States and Israel have launched joint strikes on Iran, marking a significant escalation that raises the risk of a broader regional war, economic fallout and intense diplomatic repercussions.
After 2025 tariff shifts and foreign retaliation, higher input costs and lower commodity prices erased margins for many crop farmers, triggering rising bankruptcies, asset sales and a relief package that officials say does not cover losses.
Factory employment has fallen since his return to office, with tariffs, higher material costs and cuts to clean energy projects cited as key factors.
New regulations in China, upcoming Euro NCAP safety changes and manufacturer pushback are driving a clear industry shift away from giant center touchscreens and back to physical buttons for key car functions.
Sam Altman said OpenAI has an agreement with the Department of Defense to deploy its models on the DoD’s classified network under safety-focused terms, while the Trump administration moves to phase out rival Anthropic’s technology.
Researchers built negativas, a spaCy-based tool that automates the search and classification of three types of não negation in Brazilian Portuguese speech, reporting 93% accuracy but noting limits from missing prosody, double negation ambiguity, and data imbalance.
A New York Fed report finds 2025 tariff hikes were mostly passed on to US firms and shoppers, and companies plus rising utility and healthcare costs are already pushing prices higher despite presidential claims that the affordability crisis is over.
Marta Kos, EU commissioner for enlargement, told reporters in Kyiv that the Commission is rewriting enlargement rules to reflect geopolitical and wartime realities, pursuing frontloading and strict anti-corruption benchmarks while stressing membership will only follow full reforms and member-state approval.
NBC News tracking shows mixed results since Trump took office in 2025: egg prices have fallen sharply while orange juice, ground beef and chicken remain higher.
A new World Bank report shows many countries have legal reforms for women but enforcement is inconsistent, meaning laws often do not translate into better economic opportunities.
Newag has sued repair shop SPS and members of hacking group Dragon Sector after those researchers revealed software that disabled trains to block independent repairs, with lawsuits in two courts seeking more than $3 million.
A 2026 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General paper combined lab studies and World Values Survey data to show younger people are more likely to view situations as zero-sum, with resource scarcity and optimism helping to explain the gap and implications for well being and policy.
A four-part study led by Liad Uziel finds that telling socially anxious people that others form stable first impressions reduces rumination and improves both how they feel and how they come across in brief social tasks.
Security forces opened fire on protesters outside the US consulate in Karachi on 1 March 2026, leaving at least nine dead and several injured as demonstrations over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spread across Pakistan and abroad.
Defence Secretary John Healey said two missiles were fired towards Cyprus, raising alert levels at British bases and near 300 personnel amid broader Iranian strikes, regional airspace closures and fears of further escalation.
Iranian state TV says the Armed Forces chief and other senior figures died after an early Saturday strike on a Tehran security meeting; Tehran has named temporary leaders and threatened strong retaliation while the U.S. says it would hit back with unprecedented force.
Hundreds of pro-Iran demonstrators tried to storm the consulate on March 1, 2026 after US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, prompting security forces to use batons and tear gas and leaving multiple people dead and wounded.
A US survey of 1,066 pet owners who use veterinary services found animal welfare matters more than environmental sustainability when choosing pet food, veterinarians are trusted advisors, and third-party certifications are underused but could influence buying decisions.
Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds after demonstrators entered the consulate gate; Pakistani authorities and local media say several people were hurt, including US staff, as security was reinforced amid unverified reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed.
SellCell trade-in data shows the iPhone 17 Pro Max rose to 11.5% of the top 20 traded devices by early February, with most units in good condition and resale prices still near $968.
Witnesses say demonstrators forced their way into the consulate compound and set fires after clashes; initial reports cite multiple injuries but officials have not confirmed casualty figures.
Iranian authorities claim they struck Israel and Gulf targets after a US-Israeli strike reportedly killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; independent verification of the strike and casualty figures is not yet available.
A social media survey of 795 adults found people scoring higher on dark personality traits were more likely to report problematic sexual internet use and to view violent pornography, with psychopathy and sadism showing the strongest associations; the study is cross sectional and based on self reports, so it cannot determine cause and effect.
In his first 1919 independence movement speech as president, Lee Jae Myung pushed for pragmatic cooperation with Japan, regional harmony, and steps toward a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Micron’s Semiconductor Assembly, Test and Packaging facility in Sanand, Gujarat, saying commercial production has begun; the plant will supply memory products for global markets and support India’s move into hardware manufacturing.
Altman says OpenAI rushed a limited, cloud-only deal to de-escalate a dispute after the Defense Department threatened to label Anthropic a "Supply-Chain Risk to National Security," and he urged the department to reverse that designation while outlining technical guardrails in the contract.
After OpenAI struck a deal with the Department of Defense, some ChatGPT users canceled and migrated to Anthropic’s Claude, pushing Claude to the top of the App Store amid continued debate over AI and military use.
Iran’s Feb. 28 attacks highlight how limited stocks of missile interceptors could constrain US and allied defenses after intense combat with Tehran last year.
Fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan entered a fourth day after Pakistan carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan and Kabul reported retaliatory operations and air defence attacks over the capital.
A server test clip shows a Marathon miniboss mimicking a player proximity voice line and moving like a player, drawing attention from the community and Bungie staff.
At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Secretary-General António Guterres condemned U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and warned against escalation while the United States and Israel defended their actions and Iran demanded accountability.
Policy moves and investment can grow US factory output, but long-term trends and automation mean employment may not return to its former levels.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced an imminent and large-scale operation against Israel and US bases, linking the move to what it called the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei and vowing severe revenge.
More than a dozen House Democrats asked DHS to disclose its definition of 'domestic terrorist' and related policies after reports that the agency labeled two citizens killed by DHS officers as such and as the Department expands use of surveillance technologies, the lawmakers say.
Iranian officials say a missile strike on a school in Minab killed 108 people during a wave of US and Israeli air strikes, with Tehran blaming the attackers while Washington and Tel Aviv have not confirmed the school hit.
State media and U.S. officials say a coordinated U.S.-Israel offensive killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting Iranian retaliatory strikes and reports of civilian casualties and widening fears of regional escalation.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for immediate de-escalation and respect for international law after a joint US-Israel operation against Iran prompted Iranian strikes on Israeli and US assets and regional airspace closures.
President Trump posted that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed after US and Israeli strikes in Iran, a claim not independently confirmed as Tehran launched retaliatory attacks.
Antivirus firm Malwarebytes says Facebook ads offering a free Windows 11 upgrade link to fake Microsoft pages that install a fake 75MB installer and steal passwords and crypto data, so update only through Windows Update.
The measure would forbid employers from requiring or pressuring employees to implant subdermal microchips, includes medical exceptions, and is a preemptive response since no known U.S. cases of forced workplace microchipping exist.
Recent US-Iran military escalation raises the prospect of Strait of Hormuz disruption; an energy-driven macro shock could first squeeze crypto as a risk asset and then, if prolonged, elevate Bitcoin and stablecoins as practical monetary alternatives.
A U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran could prompt retaliation that disrupts the Strait of Hormuz, risking crude price spikes, strained spare capacity and a possible global economic slowdown.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Canberra did not take part in Operation Epic Fury and was not informed ahead of the strikes, as the government seeks to confirm any Australian casualties and tightens travel warnings.
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The FTC has urged Apple to audit Apple News after a Media Research Center report alleged the app favors left-leaning publishers; the letter comes amid broader FTC actions involving Media Matters and NewsGuard that have prompted legal challenges.
Multiple unverified social media videos claim Iranian missiles or drones hit Terminal 3, while authorities say the damage was minor, most terminals had been cleared under contingency plans, and the UAE urged the public to stay calm as investigations continue.
Widespread social posts claim Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes, but there is no verified confirmation from reliable news agencies or Iranian state sources as of this report.
Bond yields and mortgage rates eased as investors sought safety amid AI-driven job fears; Nvidia beat estimates and raised guidance while January wholesale inflation showed mixed signals.
A little-known research note that went viral sketches a plausible chain where agentic AI drives layoffs, erodes tax revenue and strains the financial system, prompting short-lived market moves and fresh policy questions.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of the President's Office, said on Feb 28 that Moscow had signaled it would accept security guarantees offered by the United States as diplomats met in Geneva to plan further talks.
The Defense Department has pressed Anthropic to allow unrestricted military use of its AI for surveillance and autonomous weapons, a demand the company rejected while other major AI firms are reported to have accepted similar terms and tech workers push back.
After an 18-month clean-up, a 17th century Hyderabad stepwell now supplies drinking water again, and its revival is guiding wider stepwell and rainwater-harvesting projects as India confronts a deepening water crisis.
A new paper by Evan Soltas and Jonathan Gruber uses Los Angeles County and cross-metro comparisons to show that permitting approvals sharply raise land values, add significant per square foot costs, and explain a large share of the gap between building costs and housing prices.
Polymarket says its prediction markets give answers TV and social media cannot after it allowed betting on the timing of a US strike on Iran and faced backlash following the attack.
An analysis of US NHANES data from 1999 to 2020 shows rising population average serum bicarbonate alongside falling calcium and phosphorus, a pattern the authors link to increasing atmospheric CO2 and warn could reach current healthy limits within decades if trends continue, while noting important uncertainties and the need for more research.
U.S. reports say Israel carried out early-morning strikes in Tehran that hit several locations where top Iranian political and security figures were meeting; Iranian casualties and leadership deaths remain unconfirmed and assessments are ongoing.
CENTCOM says the new low-cost LUCAS loitering munitions, modeled on Iran's Shahed design, were used in Operation Epic Fury alongside missiles and jets while allied defenses intercepted Iranian counterattacks.
Argentina's Senate gave initial approval to a Milei-backed rewrite of the 2010 Glacier Law that narrows protected areas and hands provinces the power to greenlight mining and hydrocarbons, with the bill now headed to the lower house.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards ordered a closure of the Strait of Hormuz after reported US and Israeli strikes, prompting major traders to pause oil and LNG shipments and navies to issue navigation warnings.
Israeli officials say a strike on a Tehran compound killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but Iranian authorities have not confirmed the allegation and independent verification is lacking.